Valentine's Storm
by KenSan1990
Summary: Kaoru throws a party for Valentine's Day. When the light's go out during a winter storm, it brings out the worst in people. AU OneShot


A/N: if there is anyone who is reading this that watched the weather in the past couple of days...you know that the northeast part of North America was hit by this killer snow and ice storm. Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky me I got his by it as well as others. I lost power for several hours. In those several hours of being scared out of my wits end, I thought of this piece. This is an AU, just so you know. Enjoy!

**Valentine's Storm**

Valentine's was a celebrated thing in the Kamiya household ever since Kamiya Kaoru was a little girl. She always loved smelling the cooking her mother made for her father and her little brother, Yahiko. She made the freshest and most delicious cookies and desserts you had ever tasted. And ever since then. Ever since her parents died and she was alone with her brother, Kaoru celebrated not only as a holiday, but as an honor and a memory to them.

This day, she'd called up all of her friends to come over with her and her fiancé' Kenshin to the dojo. A few protested since there had been some bad snowing going on the day before. Still, with a little coaxing and a lot of begging, she got them over.

The party was nice so far. The smell of cookies wafting in the air. Along with streamers and other little hearts decorating the house and the doors. Yahiko found it to be too much, but Kaoru thought that it wasn't enough.

In the bunch that had come, it included: Takani Megumi with Sagara Sanosuke. Makimachi Misao with Shinomori Aoshi. Sekihara Tae with Sanjo Tsubame. And everyone's favorite police officer; Saito Hajime.

Kaoru had welcomed them all in happily from the cold. Snow had fallen several inches in the past few days but salt was clearing it away along with other things. The coat rack was now full of heavy coats and scarves and gloves. Boots stacked up from biggest to smallest outside with Misao's and Tsubame's on the end contrasting with Aoshi and Sano's at the other.

Everyone did what was typical in parties. Found their little groups, eating and chatting away while the heater blasted on high. Kaoru, Tae and Tsubame played the waitresses joining in on the strange conversations everyone was having. The raven-haired mistress walked over to her fiancé' and the group of men that were playing cards. "You're not gambling are you Himura Kenshin?" she asked handing out a few drinks getting little thanks.

"None of your money Kaoru-dono if that's what your asking," she patted him over the head like he was three years old while the rest of the males watched him in amusement. When he caught the laughing looks on their faces he turned a scarlet picking up the cards in his hand. It was just a friendly came of 500 Rummy. They'd all promised not to play poker. Not with Yahiko around. And it wasn't because he was young. As well as the other four were good at catching when their opponents were fibbing, Yahiko still outmatched them.

"Kenshin, you're going to get killed taking that whole pile like that..." warned Sanosuke as he drew.

"Nah. I got my ways of doing things." he stated setting at least four sets down. Sanosuke set down another card moving it on to the quiet Aoshi. He picked one up and laid one down so attention wasn't on him and they all watched Saito play around with his cards when he began speaking.

"You guys do know that there is suppose to be a storm coming. Ice and all right?" he asked putting out his cigarette and laying down a card. It was to Yahiko now.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad now. After all, Kaoru-dono is one to know when things get bad." Kenshin said sticking up for his fiancé'.

Sanosuke let out a chuckle and turned up the radio behind him. "And what my rooster friend could be so funny?" Saito asked.

"Nothin' much. But jou-chan isn't a very good judge of weather." he said softly and looked out the window to the rain/sleet mix falling. "I mean, after the picnic this summer. When the electric went out and it turned to be about ninety or so degrees in here while it rained out there. Lovely judge Kenshin." The red-head scowled and picked up a card. He'd had five left. He laid one down on a set he had. Two on Sanosuke. One on Saito and the last went to the pile.

"Start counting your money Sanosuke. Let's hope that it isn't Megumi-dono's." He said leaning back in the seat. Sanosuke grumbled as Aoshi tallied up everyone's score and Saito began shuffling the cards.

The ladies on the other hand were happily sipping down hot cocoa and turning their attentions between that and the soap opera on TV. And talking about the foolish things their partners had done. They listened to the conversations the men where having until Sanosuke had turned up the radio. They laughed and sat in circle. Megumi flipped her hair back and paid attention to Kaoru who'd returned with the other three.

"So, what are our boys playing?" Megumi asked.

"Rummy. They think that Yahiko will be worse off if it's not poker. I'm kinda curious who taught him." Kaoru stated stirring her hot cocoa and looking to a blushing Misao. "Misao-chan!" Kaoru yelled.

"Hey. I can't help it. Aoshi-sama and I were playing a few months ago and he was bored so we let him play. He just got good."

"If it's anything better than your poker playing brother. Rooster can't even keep his cards up half the time. And when he can...well...he blows my hard earned money." Ah, the bliss of complaining about men with other woman. Shy Tsubame stared at the screen watching General Hospital trying to keep up with whatever was going on. She continued to blush whenever Yahiko's name was uttered.

"So, Tsubame-chan. You're quiet. Have a crush you'd like to share with your fellow ladies?" Megumi asked in a purr. She had snuck up behind Tsubame causing her to throw her cocoa in the air. Megumi scurried away before her blouse was ruined.

Kaoru stood with Tae who went to the kitchen to clean up the mess. As Kaoru grabbed a few paper towels the lights on her microwave went out abruptly. She turned to the guys who had stopped their talking and looked to one another. Sanosuke had already jumped to the window to notice it was practically raining ice.

From the living room there was a shriek uttered from none other than the loud-mouthed Misao. Kaoru walked back into the living room and started to clean up the chocolate mess. When she returned, the males had begun playing their game by candle light. "Can you tell weasel to be quiet?" Sanosuke growled taking a bit of the pile and laying down a set of three's.

"Well tori-atama. The lights are gone. That means the heat is gone too. And all you guys can do is play cards?!" she demanded annoyed.

"Calm down Megumi-dono. It will be back soon. And if not, there are blankets stashed all around Kaoru-dono's home to survive the night." he stated. But as the night began to sink deeper, so did the temperature. The ladies were all huddled together with candles illuminating the room by five candles. Megumi had already called the energy place saying they were aware of the outage but there was nothing they could do at this point. She growled at her phone and shoved it into her pocket.

As she did she felt a warm breath on her neck and the words?" Megitsune." she screamed and jumped thirty feet in the air coming down haphazardly hiding under the blankets. Sanosuke chuckled as he sat next to her. The other men were making their way to the living room as well. Misao leaned on Aoshi who was trying to get away from all of it by meditating. Kenshin was behind Kaoru giving her his jacket and sitting down.

"Its cold!" complained Yahiko.

"Kenshin, I have a camp stove out in the shed. If we could."

"Not wise tanuki," Saito began sitting as far away from the bunch as he could," besides the bad rain probably freezing your lock, limbs are breaking from trees. We wouldn't want Himura or Sagara getting hit now would we?" he tried to rid that sentence of sarcasm.

"You have a radio?" Tae asked rubbing her hands together.

"How are you people not cold? The thermometer only reads 63," Sanosuke said as though it were no big deal. Megumi took the liberty of whacking him over the head.

"And dropping! If we don't get heat we'll freeze to death!" she yelled annoyed. She looked over to Kenshin and scooted closer leaning on his shoulders. "You agree with me right Ken-san?"

"Get your hands off Megumi." Kaoru warned shoving the red-head closer. Entertainment at it's best.

After another half an hour of 'huddling' Megumi tried to call someone else to find that they were trying there best. There were energy crews roaming Kaoru's street trying find the cause of the problem. Yahiko kept complaining that the people in front and behind had power. "We're on a different transmitter." Aoshi stated calmly. Misao wouldn't leave his side and he'd relinquished his coat to her as well.

There was a sound crackling outside like thunder that made Tsubame scurry over to cling to Yahiko. All the woman besides Tae grasped their partners. Saito had stood to the sound and started into the kitchen. Something had busted as well. In the kitchen, the table was littered with pieces of glass from the window where a tree branch had scraped from the roof pulling the gutter along with it. He walked over; Kenshin and Yahiko close behind to see what the crash was. Saito began to leave to go outside and pull the branch from the window. It was stuck well.

"This is lovely. Your girlfriend had some damages to pay for," Saito informed looking at the window. Kenshin shivered in the cold as rain pounded his head and he pulled the glass out of the way to remove the branch. He and Yahiko placed it in the yard; Kenshin was wiping bloody hands on his shirt.

"This is getting bad..." Kenshin trailed off and began in with Saito. Kaoru was at the entrance hugging Kenshin like a lifeline.

"I'm scared," she admitted low. She hugged her back kissing her forehead and leading her into the living room that began to look like a midnight mass with all the candles.

Megumi was putting up with Sanosuke's attitude. He hated bad weather, and he was rather skittish of the dark. He was trying to act like everything was fine as he grasped the lady doctor's hand. His were shaking rather violently. "Are you alright Sanosuke?" she asked pulling her blanket around him. He nodded.

"I'm fine," he answered sourly. "I just want the electric back on." he started to play with the deck of cards shuffling them. Kaoru was helping Kenshin stop the little cuts from bleeding on his hands.

All the while, no one seemed to notice that Misao and Aoshi were acting stranger than usual. He'd put his hand to her ears finding they were cold and he'd brought her close to him under a wool blanket. She leaned on his shoulder smiling as they held hands. He was trying his best to fall asleep as he let Misao crawl into his lap and lean on his chest. A frigid howl came from the window while Saito patched it up.

When he returned, taking his place at the computer desk and lighting up another cigarette, he watched the couples seem to start cowering and trying hard to comfort one another. It was amusing and pitiful at the same time. He'd been through this before. He'd seen people worse than this in these conditions. This seemed rather pitiful on top of amusing. Finally he asked them all.

"How many of you have been with the lights off during a winter storm?"

Everyone looked to him and five of the ten in the room raised their hands. The five that haven't were Tsubame and Yahiko, along with Misao, Kaoru and Sanosuke. "Calm down. You're being smart with staying away from the trees and getting together." He said trying to assure them. Really he wanted to get rid of the jitters that half of them had.

Throughout the night, cracks of limbs breaking echoed through the night air causing Kaoru to hold closer to her to be husband. Megumi and Sanosuke had laid down together on the couch. He just wanted to sleep through the entire thing.

"We're gonna die..." Kaoru said, muffled slightly by Kenshin's flannel shirt. He rubbed her back and tried to calm her telling her everything would be fine He was actually seeing his breath some.

"Kaoru don't say that." Sanosuke told her groggily.

"We're gonna die of hypothermia. We have no radio. We don't know what time it is. It's freezing cold. "

"Kaoru your just scared," Megumi tried to tell her. There was another huge crack like a thunder causing Kaoru to practically cut Kenshin in half with the squeeze. Aoshi stood this time. Misao had fallen asleep. Wind ripped through the house and Aoshi called Kenshin into the kitchen to see that Kaoru's tree that had penetrated the window was now laying atop the roof hardly being held up.

Kaoru was letting out heavy tears chanting they were going to die like a mantra. Sanosuke still was shaking and he held onto Megumi like what Kaoru was saying was true. Saito sighed at this scene. Even more pathetic than he'd ever scene. He accompanied Aoshi and Kenshin to the tree as they all tried hard to lift it off the roof and relinquish it of pressure.

Inside, Megumi had gotten away from Sanosuke and kneeled to Kaoru who was mumbling so many things to herself. "Kaoru. It's fine. We'll be fine."

"No! I'm gonna die before I can even get married. I knew I shouldn't have given up Enishi! I should have married him like tou-san wanted me too." Megumi had had enough of Kaoru's babble.

"Pull yourself together child!" she yelled. They'd never see her wrath before. At least, not in the way she'd always whack Sanosuke over the head. "We're cold. There's no light. It's about nine or ten. We'll survive this. You will get married, in a nice chapel to a nice husband. Just pull yourself together."

Misao had woken to Megumi's seething, and looked around for Aoshi. She didn't freak out. She jumped up and ran to the back door watching the pull the tree to the ground. They started to come back, Aoshi giving a hacking cough as Saito opened the door. She didn't worry. It was just a cold. "Aoshi-sama?" she asked," are you okay?"

"Hai. Fine." he answered and she lead him back to the living room. All eyes were on Kaoru at the moment as she ran to Kenshin murmuring. "I don't want to die."

"You'll be okay, okay?" he told her. After that was settled, everyone began to notice, especially Sanosuke and Saito, that Yahiko and Tsubame were showing there feelings for one another. Yahiko kissed her over the forehead while she pulled on his sweater. They were both scared, but Yahiko was being brave for the both of them.

In the next few minutes, things were a whirl wind. Kaoru had talked to Kenshin. She'd asked him what would happen if these were his last moments. Theirlast moments.

"Kaoru-dono. If today was my dying day. I promise to you we'd be married here and now as not to separate in heaven." A quiver was in him voice at her question. A difficult one to say the least.

"Megumi. What if something does happen to one of us?" Sanosuke asked concerned He tried holding back the shivers in his voice. Megumi tightened her grip on his hand and answered.

"Nothing will happen."

"I need to do what I was going to do for dinner tonight," he mumbled. Pulling out a maroon box he dropped to a knee. "Takani Megumi. Say this were our last day. Would you spend eternity with me?" he asked. Megumi clamped her hands over her mouth and hugged him tightly.

"Hai, Sano. Hai."

Banging came on the door and Kaoru jumped. Yahiko was quick to answer it. A tall man stood bundled at the door looking in. "Kamiya!" he bellowed out. She pulled her quivering lip from her to be husband and nodded. "You're a wreck woman," Hiko Seijuuro commented walking into the room and shutting the door. "To all of you. I received word that it should be soon. In the hour everything will be back on. They're working down the street in a cherry picker. Getting ice off the lines. When they reach the corner they'll turn the power on. Right now they're trying to get my tree out of the lines. That's the biggest problem."

"Arigato gozaimasu Seijuuro-san." Kaoru said hugging Kenshin warmly instead of in fear.

"No problem. You picked a lovely day to have a party. Happy Valentine's by the way."

Hiko departed. Her arrogant next door neighbor was suffering this out too. He had connections to the entire neighborhood since he'd been here for such a long time.

"Kaoru-dono. Happy Valentine's," he gave her a maroon box as well. Inside was a heart shaped necklace of ruby.

"Domo," she wrapped around him tightly.

Saito watched over and began to notice the mood of the room change from scared and hostile to lovey-dovey. The gooey kind of stuff for Valentine's Day.

"Well. Tokio will be expecting me soon. I best go." he said departing. The winter did strange things to people. But through it all, something gave him this inkling that this would be one of the best Valentine's any of the lovebirds had had in a while.

A/N: It's probably boring. I hope you enjoyed though. Till next time. KenSan out!


End file.
